Sameer Wankhede Moves Bombay High Court to Quash CBI FIR in Aryan Khan Bribery Case

Sameer Wankhede, a former officer of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), has filed a petition before the Bombay High Court to have the FIR filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) quashed.

The FIR accuses Wankhede of demanding a bribe of ₹25 crore from Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to prevent the implication of his son Aryan Khan in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case. Wankhede has also requested that no coercive action be taken against him based on the CBI’s FIR. The court will hear his plea later today.

Recently, the CBI lodged an FIR against Sameer Wankhede and four others. Aryan Khan, who was arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021, in connection with the Cordelia cruise ship case, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court after three weeks due to the NCB’s failure to substantiate their charges against him.

The CBI has charged Sameer Wankhede and others with criminal conspiracy, threat of extortion, and bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act, based on a complaint by the NCB. According to the CBI, the NCB’s Mumbai Zone received information in October 2021 regarding the possession and consumption of narcotics substances by individuals aboard the private cruise ship. The probe agency alleges that some NCB officers conspired and received bribes from the accused individuals.

In a related development, the Delhi High Court has granted Sameer Wankhede protection from coercive action for five days, allowing him the freedom to approach the appropriate forum, which in this case would be the Bombay High Court. The CBI had summoned Wankhede for questioning in Mumbai on Thursday, but he did not appear before the agency’s team.